Characteristics of reported gonorrhea diagnoses during compared to pre COVID-19 pandemic, Baltimore City, Maryland

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Sex Transm Dis
• Personal Author:
  Coen, Michelle E ; Williford, Sarah L ; Muvva, Ravikiran ; Genberg, Becky ; Greenbaum, Adena ; Schumacher, Christina M
• Description:
  Background:
  
  Sexual health service disruptions due to COVID-19 mitigation measures may have decreased gonorrhea screening and biased case-ascertainment towards symptomatic individuals. We assessed changes in reported symptoms and other characteristics among reported gonorrhea cases during- vs. pre-pandemic periods in one city with persistent gonorrhea transmission.
  
  Methods:
  
  Enhanced surveillance data collected on a random sample of gonorrhea cases reported to the Baltimore City Health Department between March 2018–September 2021 was used. Logistic regression assessed differences in case characteristics by diagnosis period (during-pandemic: March 2020–September 2021; pre-pandemic: March 2018–September 2019).
  
  Results:
  
  Analyses included 2,750 (1,090 during-pandemic, 1,660 pre-pandemic) gonorrhea cases, representing 11,904 reported cases. During- vs. pre-pandemic, proportionally fewer cases were reported by sexual health clinics (8.8% vs. 23.2%), and more frequently reported by emergency departments/urgent care centers (23.3% vs. 11.9%). Adjusting for diagnosing provider, fewer cases who were males with urethral infections [aOR: 0.65, 95% CI: (0.55–0.77)], aged <18 [aOR: 0.64, (0.47–0.89)], and females [aOR: 0.84, (0.71–0.99)] were reported, and cases with insurance [aOR: 1.85, (1.40–2.45)], living with HIV [aOR: 1.43, (1.12–1.83)], or recent (≤12 months) gonorrhea history [aOR: 1.25, (1.02–1.53)] were more frequently reported during- vs. pre-pandemic. Reported symptoms and same-day/empiric treatment did not differ across periods.
  
  Conclusions:
  
  We observed no changes in reported symptoms among cases diagnosed during- vs. pre-pandemic. Increased frequency of reported diagnoses who were insured, living with HIV, or with recent gonorrhea history are suggestive of differences in care access and/or care seeking behaviors among populations with high gonorrhea transmission during the pandemic.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Baltimore COVID-19 Female Gonorrhea Homosexuality, Male Humans Male Pandemics
• Keywords:
  COVID-19 Pandemic Public Health Surveillance
• Source:
  Sex Transm Dis. 50(4):215-223
• Pubmed ID:
  36473236
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC10009801
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  H25 PS004259/PS/NCHHSTP CDC HHSUnited States/ ; R43 PS005187/PS/NCHHSTP CDC HHSUnited States/ ; R43PS005187/ACL/ACL HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  50
• Issue:
  4
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:c7a9405035e5e7e29bc67c46a35394a27390a26dcded95766f57397fed7d14ff
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/125732/cdc_125732_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 378.96 KB ]